Finning open their doors to 240 hopeful apprentices

Young adults gain valuable insight into potential roles at interactive open day sessions

UK Caterpillar dealers Finning recently welcomed a host of young adults to their Cannock headquarters for interactive apprentice open day sessions. Held on 9 and 10 February, the business showcased the Finning Training Academy facilities, coupled with its commitment to investing in talent from across the UK and Ireland. The academy had 240 registered applicants for the two days.

Four two-hour sessions gave apprentice hopefuls the opportunity to gain valuable insight into their potential roles, whilst also getting a real feel for the culture of Finning as an organization.

Human resources director Stuart Chapman, Finning apprentice programme manager Paul Lawson, and Nicki Haywood, apprentice training co-ordinator, talked to the visitors about the scheme. The prospective students were then given a tour around the state-of-the-art workshop facilities by the training team and incumbent first-year apprentices.

‘We think it’s really important that our potential apprentices get the opportunity to meet the current team of Finning trainees,’ said Jackie O’Brien, head of learning and development at Finning. ‘The best people to give the most accurate reflection of our training scheme are the apprentices themselves. This also allows our visitors to be more relaxed within a peer-to-peer environment, meaning they’re comfortable to ask the questions that really matter.

‘We’re delighted with the interest the two days generated, especially that we welcomed so many people from all corners of the UK. Although our headquarters are here in Cannock, we have branches operating throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. It’s essential, therefore, that we help inspire fresh talent from all areas.’

This year saw a greater focus on the two separate apprenticeships offered by the Finning Training Academy. The first is the traditional service engineer apprentice role, where successful applicants will be taught essential machine maintenance/servicing skills and trained on the latest diagnostic systems, advanced technologies and hi-tech tools.

The second is the parts sales and operations scheme, in partnership with Jaguar/Land Rover. This option offers the opportunity to receive plant maintenance training at the Jaguar/Land Rover Academy in Leamington Spa. The students then return to the Finning Training Academy to apply this knowledge to Finning’s parts and sales processes.

Following the open days, HR director Stuart Chapman said: ‘There was a real buzz about the place on both days; it was fantastic to see so many eager faces interested in joining our industry.

‘The prospective apprentices seemed to get a real understanding of the hands-on training approach we have here at Finning. We truly believe in learning through the combination of classroom and practical application and are proud of the facilities we have on offer, which I’m sure is part of the reason our apprenticeship program is so popular.’

The application process for apprentice places closes at the end of this month (February), with both Finning Training Academy schemes beginning in September 2015.